Midnight Conversations

For all of you who don't read Phillip's blog, which is probably no one, I thought I'd share this crazy video he made of a conversation we had the other night. As you can see on the video I told him not to post it but he did anyway. I warmed up to the video and decided to post it too. Hope you enjoy!

Rylee's Friend...Lily

If you haven't heard our whole story about how we ended up back in Charleston, it's a very unique one. The "shoes" Phillip is filling as Youth Pastor for Northwood Assembly are ones formerly filled by a dear friend, Filipe Santos. Phillip and I went to college with Filipe and his wife, Mandy. Over the years we have kept up with them through blogs, phone calls and occasional visits. Earlier this year Filipe answered God's calling to take his family, they have 2 precious little girls also, and help plant a church in California. As soon as he let the church know, he began helping them look for the person who would take his position. How awesome and rare is it that you get to help hire a buddy of yours to take your job?

Anywho, the Santos family doesn't start their Cali adventure until August so we have a few precious weeks to soak them up, and that's exactly what we did as you can see in the pictures. We had them over for dinner last week and the girls played in the sprinkler in the backyard. Their oldest daughter, Lily, is 2 months older than Rylee so they have become buds, they're so cute. Enjoy the second installment of "Fun in the Backyard."

The Interview

Praise the Lord she did a great job! (for the most part) There you have it in a nutshell. Now for the longer version:

As you can see in the below pictures she decided to wear her watermelon dress that Granny gave her. We got all ready and off we went. We picked up Phillip at the office and headed over to the Lower School office. Mrs. Erin Louden, the Assistant Principal, came out and said she was going to take SG to her office for a readiness test and then she would come and get us to "talk". As Savannah pranced away my eyes welled up with tears as I thought about her school career beginning. A few minutes later Mrs. Louden came and got us. As we entered her office SG was sitting in a little chair quietly looking at a book. Mrs. Louden began to explain the test she did with SG and said that she did very well. She wasn't able to recognize all of her letters and numbers, but she said that is very typical at this age. She did however get all her shapes and colors right and she was able to recognize several pictures of "every day" items. As we continued to talk about all the normal school stuff Savannah had a hard time sitting there and we had to call her down a couple of times but all in all I was very pleased. You know how it is, your kids are always better for someone else than they are for you! (why is that?)

Thanks to everyone who said a little prayer on her behalf today and many thanks to our awesome God for His continued faithfulness.

Pictures

Here are some pictures of the girls from last night. They were out in the backyard with the bubble machine going. Enjoy!

Happy Father's Day...Now Get To Work!

It's hard to believe that it was only four short years ago that Phillip got the joy and privilege of celebrating his very first Father's Day. Savannah Grace was only 4 months old and we had just moved to Atlanta a few short days before Father's Day. I was a mess. I was a new mom that had just moved her family to a new town, we were living with my parents at the time until we could find a place of our own and while I appreciated it VERY much you can imagine it came with it's own difficulties. What was God up to? I didn't have a clue!





Now four short years later here we sit with an additional little girl, in a new city, in a new house, surrounded by new people! What is God up to? I don't have a clue! But I do know that He is faithful even when I don't understand all of lives circumstances. Furthermore, I have a husband who loves me and the Lord and is in tune with his Father and is desperately seeking after Him so he can make the exact right move at the exact right time. Now that is comforting! So not only did we celebrate Phillip's fourth Father's Day today, but it was also his first day as Student Pastor at Northwood Assembly.





So here we go... starting another chapter in this thing called life, another "adventure", as my wise mother would say. And there is no one in the world I'd rather share it with than this man. He's a great leader, a great husband, a great dad and most importantly a great Christ-follower. Thanks for all you do for our family, the three ladies in your life will be forever grateful!

Grateful

It seems that with everything that has been going on in our lives lately my patience is running a little thin, with the girls and Phillip. On any given day, recently, I find myself letting the T.V. be my babysitter so I can either get some boxes unpacked or have a few minutes to myself. At the same time all of this has been going on I have "coincidentally" run across blogs, news stories or people I know that have either tragically lost a child or who can't have children at all. Then it hits me... I am SO blessed and should be so grateful for the beautiful, healthy little girls God has given me as well as a loving, caring husband! How do we get to the place in life that we get so involved in the worldly things that we totally loose focus on the blessings God has given us?

Lord, help me to keep my eyes fixed on you and not take one second for granted that you have given me to love these precious girls and be a godly wife to Phillip. I pray that you would pour out your blessings on the people in those stories, blogs and the ones I know personally that are walking through a deep valley of loss I could never even imagine. You are the ultimate Healer, be the Healer these people need right now. Thank you for seeing fit to bless me beyond my wildest imagination. I love you!

Prayer Request, Pictures and a Pile of Empty Boxes!

1. Prayer Request:
The school Savannah Grace will be attending in the fall, Northwood Academy, called yesterday to schedule her "interview" and "testing". I asked about the testing part since she is only 4 years old and they said they were just going to ask her some questions. I think we'll start the interview off with all of us, except Rylee, and then there will be a portion of the interview that she does alone with "the people." I put that in quotes because I don't really know who exactly is going to be there. Anywho, I'm a little nervous to say the least. I thought we'd have all summer to "transition" before being expected to behave like a normal 4 year old in front of other people! Please pray that all goes well and that SG acts like the sweet, fun-loving little girl that I know she is.

2. Pictures: (taken from our backyard)






3. Pile of Empty Boxes:
Yes, that's right we, or should I say Phillip, mostly, have done a lot of unpacking in our short few days in the new house. We're almost ready for company. There are a few boxes in the kitchen left to be unpacked, although I don't really know where they will go since my kitchen here in smaller than in Charlotte, a few boxes in our bathroom and some boxes in the girls' room. Then we start the task of hanging pictures, curtains and other misc. decorations. But for now I give you... our humble abode.


P.S. See that window over the garage? That's right, it's for you. It's the guest room/office and it's waiting for you. So go ahead and plan your trip, Charleston won't disappoint. (and neither will we)

Happy Anniversary Mr. McCart

Today, nine years ago, I married my very best friend. It's hard to believe it's already been nine years, it went by so fast! Here are just a few stats from the last nine years:

~ 10 moves
~ 4 states
~ 5 churches
~ 2 kids
~ to many extra pounds to count

And I wouldn't trade any of it! Those statistics have shaped us into the people, the couple, the family, the parents and the friends we are today. Remember, we vowed, "for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health." I think we have been through a little bit of each of those and I can truly say, "God has been SO faithful!" I can't wait to see what the next nine years holds for us. (hopefully less moving around) I didn't think it was possible, but I can honestly say that I love you more today than I did the day we got married!

Moving on... we're in Arizona!! Wednesday evening we got to see some good friends from college and have dinner with them. It was awesome! Here we are:


Angela, Phillip, Me, Andrea, Adeline and Jeff

Today, we went to the Grand Canyon for our anniversary. It was breath-taking! It brought tears to my eyes thinking about God and all of His glory and majesty as I looked across this vast expanse. He is an amazing God!





I'm looking forward to the next few days as we continue to explore AZ. Expect more blogs and pics!!